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US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Lebanon, ending a brutal conflict with Hezbollah that has killed more than 3,700 people and seen entire Lebanese villages wiped off the map.
Mr Biden said the truce is set to begin at 4am local time on Wednesday, and that the agreement is designed to become a permanent cessation of hostilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Security Cabinet approved the ceasefire in a 10-1 vote. The war in Lebanon has raged since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah intervened in Israel’s war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7.
Mr Biden claimed that Hezbollah had been planning on a Hamas-style invasion of northern Israel through tunnels that have now been destroyed by Israeli forces.
"What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed, I emphasise, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again," Mr Biden said from the Rose Garden of the White House.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the US-mediated ceasefire as “an essential step towards calm and stability in Lebanon and returning displaced people” to their homes. About 1.4 million people in Lebanon have been displaced.
A senior US administration official said that over the next 60 days, Israeli troops who are occupying territory in Lebanon will stage a phased withdrawal as the Lebanese army and state security forces take control of their own territory. Lebanese and Israeli displaced civilians would then be able to return to their homes.
Mr Biden said no US troops would be posted in southern Lebanon.
"The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations operating from Lebanon," he said in a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron.
France and the US have committed to building up the strength and capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces and will work to secure economic development in Lebanon to "advance stability and prosperity in the region", the two leaders said.
Mr Biden said that in the coming days, the US would make another push to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal in Gaza with the assistance of Turkey, Egypt and Qatar.
Many of Hezbollah's senior commanders, including Hassan Nasrallah, have been killed during Israeli air and ground assaults, which also caused the deaths of thousands of Lebanese, the displacement of millions and widespread devastation.
Just hours before the ceasefire was announced, Israel launched its biggest wave of strikes on the capital Beirut, destroying dozens of buildings and homes in two minutes after the Israeli military issued eviction orders to residents.
The ceasefire marks the first time since November 2023 that there has been a reduction in violence the Middle East conflict. The last time was a six-day break in fighting between Israel and Hamas in November 2023, to allow for the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the agreement would put an end to the "violence, destruction and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing". He urged all parties to take immediate steps towards the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, the 2006 agreement that ended a different war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The new agreement mirrors Resolution 1701 but with more oversight to ensure its enforcement. It would ensure Iran-backed Hezbollah pull back to the north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
Mike Waltz, the congressman picked to become US national security adviser in the Trump White House, has credited the president-elect for the ceasefire deal. Mr Trump campaigned on the promise to “end wars” in the Middle East and elsewhere.
“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Mr Waltz said on X. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East.”
Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the latest ceasefire was a "good achievement" for the Biden administration and one that will boost the departing President's legacy.
"It raises his legacy in the sense that he stopped the war,” Ms Ghaddar, whose research focuses on Hezbollah and Shiite politics in the Levant, told The National. “The ceasefire did not benefit Hezbollah. The ceasefire was kind of a surrender by Hezbollah.”
She said the broad contours of the agreement were sound but its efficacy would only be proven by its implementation. For the deal to succeed, Ms Ghaddar said the monitoring group outlined in the agreement must ensure that Hezbollah cannot regroup and funnel weapons in through ports of entry.
The ceasefire talks between Hezbollah and Israel were mediated by US envoy Amos Hochstein.
The UN's special co-ordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, welcomed the ceasefire and urged both sides to follow up with “concrete actions” toward stability.
“Considerable work lies ahead to ensure that the agreement endures. Nothing less than the full and unwavering commitment of both parties is required,” Ms Hennis-Plasschaert said in statement.
The American Task Force on Lebanon, a leadership organisation for Americans of Lebanese heritage, welcomed the ceasefire announcement.
“Its success will require US leadership and persistence in assisting the country’s recovery and guaranteeing its sovereignty and support to the Lebanese army, which is set to play a key role in the ensuing phase,” the group's president, Edward Gabriel, said in a statement.
Adla Massoud contributed to this report from the UN.
Five key moments of the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon - in pictures
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Panic at a Beirut hospital after thousands, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were injured when the pagers they used to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Several people were killed. Reuters -
Mourners in Beirut's southern suburbs carry the coffins of people killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded, in a mass funeral on September 18, 2024. AFP -
A man stands on the rubble of buildings near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 29, 2024. AP -
Workers drape a building in a vast banner depicting Nasrallah in Tehran, two days after his assassination by Israeli forces in Beirut. Getty Images -
Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging post near the border with Lebanon on October 1, 2024. AP -
Israeli soldiers rest in an operation zone near Naqoura, southern Lebanon on October 13, 2024, after a ground invasion was launched. Getty Images -
People take cover by a roadside in Tel Aviv as a siren sounds after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel. Reuters -
Iranian-launched projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. AFP -
The aftermath of a rocket salvo in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, on November 24, 2024. Hezbollah said it launched the missiles from Lebanon at an Israeli army intelligence base. AFP -
Residents in Petah Tikva check the damage after the rockets were fired from Lebanon. AFP
